| traffic mode | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | bicycle | 121,410 | 334,577 | 1,079,064 | 2,061,402 | 1,711,883 | 5,308,336 |
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | pedestrian | 321,198 | 910,552 | 3,711,360 | 7,784,947 | 9,087,026 | 21,815,083 |
| traffic mode | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | bicycle | 48 | 41 | 60 | 96 | 95 |
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | pedestrian | 221 | 183 | 293 | 506 | 710 |
| traffic mode | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | bicycle | 26 | 38 | 123 | 235 | 235 |
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | pedestrian | 68 | 104 | 424 | 886 | 1245 |
| traffic mode | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | bicycle | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1 | 1 |
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | pedestrian | 2.3 | 1.9 | 3 | 5.3 | 7.4 |
Focusing on the NMF counters, at end Oct 2021 approximately 5.3M bikes and 21.8M pedestrians had been recorded going past all counters.
Average count per day dropped in 2018 for both types of counters before starting to rise again. Looking at counts overall, cycling peaked in May 2020, two months after the first COVID-19 lockdown was imposed, then continued to drop after plateauing over the summer. Despite further restrictions in 2021 cycling counts dropped overall, even with higher counts than seen over the summer months in 2020. Counts then started to drop after the highest peak to date in Aug (2021).
Walking, overall, continued to rise in 2021. But even this started to decrease in April, and by June had dropped below the same month in 2020. However, both cycling and walking started to rise again in Jul 2021, both over the 2020 figures, but then started to fall again in Aug. Walking rose in Sep before starting to fall again in Oct.
The data now also includes council-managed counters. However, the much larger number of counters and denser network in the two largest cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow, skew the data, especially when looking at totals. We therefore compare data across location and time using predominantly average counts.
| traffic mode | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Edinburgh Council | bicycle | 11,686,881 | 12,036,787 | 12,487,914 | 11,988,082 | 48,199,664 |
| East Dunbartonshire Council | bicycle | 46,603 | 90,008 | 236,291 | 116,655 | 489,557 |
| Glasgow City Council | bicycle | 3,032,075 | 3,803,975 | 2,448,636 | 2,637,421 | 11,922,107 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | bicycle |
|
47,529 | 37,142 | 38,416 | 123,087 |
| Stirling Council | bicycle |
|
639,243 | 743,521 | 903,383 | 2,286,147 |
| John Muir Way | bicycle |
|
|
33,383 | 87,911 | 121,294 |
| Perth and Kinross Council | bicycle |
|
|
|
155,259 | 155,259 |
| traffic mode | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Edinburgh Council | bicycle | 967 | 752 | 601 | 692 |
| East Dunbartonshire Council | bicycle | 60 | 25 | 65 | 41 |
| Glasgow City Council | bicycle | 306 | 261 | 156 | 148 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | bicycle |
|
16 | 13 | 18 |
| Stirling Council | bicycle |
|
85 | 88 | 123 |
| John Muir Way | bicycle |
|
|
48 | 58 |
| Perth and Kinross Council | bicycle |
|
|
|
31 |
| traffic mode | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Edinburgh Council | bicycle | 1334 | 1378 | 1422 | 1643 |
| East Dunbartonshire Council | bicycle | 7 | 10 | 27 | 17 |
| Glasgow City Council | bicycle | 346 | 454 | 279 | 364 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | bicycle |
|
5 | 4 | 5 |
| Stirling Council | bicycle |
|
73 | 85 | 124 |
| John Muir Way | bicycle |
|
|
10 | 12 |
| Perth and Kinross Council | bicycle |
|
|
|
66 |
| traffic mode | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Edinburgh Council | bicycle | 40.3 | 31.3 | 25.1 | 28.8 |
| East Dunbartonshire Council | bicycle | 2.5 | 1 | 2.7 | 1.7 |
| Glasgow City Council | bicycle | 12.8 | 10.9 | 6.5 | 6.2 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | bicycle |
|
0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Stirling Council | bicycle |
|
3.5 | 3.7 | 5.1 |
| John Muir Way | bicycle |
|
|
2 | 2.4 |
| Perth and Kinross Council | bicycle |
|
|
|
1.3 |
Comparing total counts for each data provider and location against averages per hour through the day… this gets more interesting looking at the data month on month, as we can see how cycling changes through the full period for which counters were installed and working. (Note - where the picture is blank no data exists for a provider for that period.)
Counts vary from 0 to, occasionally, for cyclists, well over 20K within an hour and almost 70K in a single day. The tables below give a feel for when spikes occurred within each dataset; in East Dunbartonshire the peak hourly count occurs on the day with the peak count. Further investigation is warranted wherever an (unusual) spike is seen that does not map to an event in the location, as these sometimes simply alert to a malfunctioning counter.
Any or all of day of the week, time of day and month in the year, and recent weather patterns, road type, in addition to a specific event in a location contribute to variation in numbers of especially cyclists in a location.
| Provider | TrafficMode | LocalAuthority | Location | RoadName | RoadType | Date | Weekday | Time | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Dunbartonshire Council | bicycle | East Dunbartonshire | Kirkintilloch | Strathkelvin Walkway | 23 Sep 2020 | Wed | 14:00 | 24181 | |
| City of Edinburgh Council | bicycle | Edinburgh | Edinburgh | Harrison Park | 03 Jun 2018 | Sun | 11:00 | 24150 | |
| Glasgow City Council | bicycle | Glasgow | Glasgow | CP Victoria Street / Alison Street | 27 Sep 2021 | Mon | 05:00 | 1990 | |
| Stirling Council | bicycle | Stirling | Stirling | Albert Place (Westbound) | 16 Sep 2021 | Thu | 13:00 | 1328 | |
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | bicycle | North Ayrshire | Largs | Largs Promenade | A-Road | 26 Sep 2021 | Sun | 13:00 | 1100 |
| Perth and Kinross Council | bicycle | Perth and Kinross | Perth | Edinburgh Road (Discontinued 202008) | 10 Aug 2021 | Tue | 05:00 | 687 | |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | bicycle | Na h-Eileanan Siar | Port Ness | Port Ness | 08 Dec 2020 | Tue | 12:00 | 415 | |
| John Muir Way | bicycle | North Lanarkshire | Dullatur | NCR754, Kilsyth | Path | 15 Aug 2020 | Sat | 11:00 | 71 |
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | pedestrian | Argyll & Bute | Dunoon | Victoria Parade | Path | 01 May 2021 | Sat | 07:00 | 22171 |
| Provider | TrafficMode | LocalAuthority | Location | RoadName | RoadType | Date | Weekday | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Edinburgh Council | bicycle | Edinburgh | Edinburgh | London Road | 20 Jan 2018 | Sat | 69515 | |
| East Dunbartonshire Council | bicycle | East Dunbartonshire | Kirkintilloch | Strathkelvin Walkway | 23 Sep 2020 | Wed | 45979 | |
| Stirling Council | bicycle | Stirling | Stirling | Albert Place (Westbound) | 16 Sep 2021 | Thu | 7030 | |
| Perth and Kinross Council | bicycle | Perth and Kinross | Perth and Kinross | Croft-na-Caber | 19 Sep 2021 | Sun | 5203 | |
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | bicycle | North Ayrshire | Largs | Largs Promenade | A-Road | 27 Sep 2021 | Mon | 4611 |
| Glasgow City Council | bicycle | Glasgow | Glasgow | CP West Street / Paisley Road | 14 May 2019 | Tue | 2781 | |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | bicycle | Na h-Eileanan Siar | Port Ness | Port Ness | 08 Dec 2020 | Tue | 1686 | |
| John Muir Way | bicycle | North Lanarkshire | Dullatur | NCR754, Kilsyth | Path | 15 Aug 2020 | Sat | 460 |
| National Monitoring Framework (CS) | pedestrian | Shetland | Lerwick | Cemetery Path | Path | 01 Sep 2021 | Wed | 110904 |
"
Starting with the installation of 11 bicycle and pedestrian counters by Cycling Scotland's National Monitoring Framework (NMF) in a number of counties predominantly in west, central Scotland, from Jun 2017 and through to Oct 2021. The 63rd counter was installed in Fort William in the Highlands in Aug 2021, and a further three in Edinburgh in Jun and Jul 2021.
The snapshots now also include data from more dense networks of council-managed counters and some points along the John Muir Way. Some councils manage counters outwith their geographical or administrative boundaries; for instance, the City of Edinburgh Council also provides counts for Dalkeith (Midlothian). Where more than one filter is used, the charts will always group (or order) first by location (e.g., hamlet, village, town or city), then local authority, then data provider.
Pedestrian count data is currently available only from NMF Counters. Summaries are shown in the overview section.
Most of the charts are interactive. Mousing over data points will display tooltips with more detail. Click/double-click on legend items to filter data sub-sets. Zoom in by drawing a rectangle around a region of interest and double-click in empty space to return to the full view. Alternatively, use the toolbar on the top, right, to interact with each chart.
Charts directly comparing detail by location use a log scale (rather than linear/arithmetic) because of the very large differences in counts (and counters) across locations. For instance, Edinburgh and Glasgow had ab out 40 counters each by 2018, and as at mid 2021, 57 and 75 counters respectively. Being the second and first largest (cities) by population, and Edinburgh being especially dense, directly comparing counts to all other locations dwarfs all other data, including even Stirling and Dundee – we obtain plots with most of the data sitting in the bottom, left-hand corner.
In the overview section we list all counters – NMF and council-managed, showing installation dates and count per location. It should be noted that there is some delay between counter installation and the point from which data is recorded. Counters that came online within the last month or two may therefore not have any data reported in charts shown. Occasionally, also, a counter may go out of action temporarily and sometimes for significant periods of time.
Counter data may be accessed via Cycling Scotland's Active Travel Open Data Portal. The data feeding into this analysis is updated shortly after the end of each month, to allow for any delays in data reporting.
All data feeding into this anakysis is extracted at the level of detail of hourly counts by counter, and then aggregated as required. Data may be accessed via the API; this requires registration and request of an API key. Alternatively, a dump may be downloaded from the portal.
Historical weather pattern data was obtained from the Met Office.